


Flawless Victory

by ForeshadowedFate



Category: Death Note
Genre: Alternate Ending, Crime, Drama, Oneshot, Revenge, daikoku wharf, light yagami versus near, perfect victory, suspense/thriller, third-person point of view, yellow box warehouse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-02
Updated: 2014-10-02
Packaged: 2018-02-19 15:51:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2394185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForeshadowedFate/pseuds/ForeshadowedFate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the day that the Japanese task force and the American SPK meet at the Yellow Box warehouse on Daikoku Wharf, Near is almost positive that he has all of his bases covered and will emerge victorious, closing the Kira case for good. However, Light and Mikami are both secretly one step ahead of him and have something very dastardly planned for everyone in the warehouse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flawless Victory

**Author's Note:**

> I was a bit disappointed with the way the anime/manga ended, so this is my imagination of how Light could have achieved his "perfect victory" as Kira. As I mentioned before in the summary, there's considerable violence in this oneshot involving characters you may have come to care about - mostly from the Japanese task force and the SPK - so please don't read this if you don't like character deaths. Please read and comment!
> 
> Warning: About half of this oneshot consists of people - major canon characters, mind you - getting killed in various ways.
> 
> -Disclaimer- I do not own "Death Note" in any way, shape, or form. However, I do own this original oneshot, which I hope pleases anyone who wanted to see what could have happened if Light won instead of Near.

The tension in the air was so thick that if the nine people inside the Yellow Box warehouse were able to physically feel it, they surely would have suffocated. The date was January 28, 2010. Both sides of the Kira case had finally come together after so many years of investigation, never having fully met face-to-face.

It all started because Near had informed Light that he'd found something interesting regarding the investigation. One of the prerequisites for the meeting was that everyone involved in the case had to attend in person. Now, they stood opposite each other, separated by only a few mere feet in the middle of the floor; the Japanese task force on one side, the SPK on the other, as well as Mogi from the task force.

Light couldn't help but give the slightest hint of a smirk.

_This is it,_ he thought. _This is where it all ends. All eight of these people will die here today, and there's not a damn thing any of them can do about it. The Kira case will finally come to a halt without anyone to continue the investigations, and I'll finally be rid of the law. No, they're not the law._ I'm _the law. This world now belongs to Kira. Kira is justified in everything he does, and anyone who opposes him will pay for it with their lives._

Twirling his fingers in his hair, Near looked up to see Light half-smirking at him with a glare. He narrowed his eyes slightly, wondering what this man was up to.

"What is it, Light?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," Light continued his stare, arms confidently crossed in front of his chest. "Just waiting for X-Kira, as you call him, to show up so I can finally prove you wrong."

"Oh, is that all?" Near challenged Light's stare with his own. "You seem to be in your own little world over there."

Light couldn't help but softly chuckle. "You have no idea just how accurate that statement is."

Near's eyes widened for a split-second before returning to normal again, trying not to let anyone notice his brief falter.

_What does he mean by that?_ he pondered. _Is he planning something, or is he just genuinely saying that out of pure coincidence? In either case, I should definitely keep a close eye on him when X-Kira gets here._

As if on cue, Near's eyes shifted to the only door in the warehouse when his ears caught the sound of shuffling feet just outside of it.

"He's here," he announced. "If he opens the door a crack and just peeks in, simply pretend like you don't see him there."

Everyone else in the room besides him and Light gasped as their full attention went to the doorway for a few seconds, then almost simultaneously looked away as per Near's instructions. The man who had the ability to kill each and every one of them just by writing their names down in a notebook was on the other side of that door. All he had to do was simply peek in and get a brief glimpse of their faces to do it.

But they knew the risks. They knew the kind of danger they were putting themselves in from the very first day they had taken on this case. Each and every one of them was prepared to give their lives in the name of justice. They weren't afraid to die...

...Well, _most_ of them weren't.

"Oh, God," Matsuda whispered to himself as he gazed at the metal door. "It's him. We're all gonna die..."

Aizawa was the only one who seemed to notice or care about the detective's tiny outburst. He whipped his head around to glare at him.

"Matsuda, shut up!" he hissed quietly at him. "No one's gonna die here today! Near said so himself!"

"Sorry, Aizawa," Matsuda avoided the other man's gaze. "I just have a _really_ bad feeling about this."

Aizawa's glare softened ever so slightly as he let the other man's words sink in. In a way, he was kind of right; Aizawa himself _had_ felt as if something were a little off from the very moment he'd entered the warehouse. Then again, it was a tense situation for everyone, as they all could very well be killed here by the man on the other side of that door.

"Look, Matsuda," he sighed, "just do your job and don't think about it. It's the only way we can catch this guy. You have to stay focused."

"R-Right," Matsuda nervously ran a hand through his hair as his eyes darted between the door and the floor of the warehouse.

Light's smirk grew slightly wider and he almost laughed before he was able to catch himself.

_No, no,_ he mentally stopped himself. _Don't. Just hold it in. Only another minute or so and you can laugh all you want. Just act normal and don't draw any attention to yourself. You can do this._

Luckily, everyone's attention was elsewhere, so no one noticed Light's microscopic slip-up. As little as it was, though, he didn't want to take any chances, _especially_ with Near around. Hell, the kid had openly told him that he already suspected him of being Kira, so even body language could be used to work against him if he wasn't careful enough.

The loud, creaking sound of the metal door slowly being opened resonated throughout the whole room. A small slit of sunlight broke through the lowly lit room as the door slid open just a few inches. As Near had stated before, he would most likely just peek in to get a look at everyone before he did anything. His judgment turned out to be correct.

* * *

Moments after opening the door, X-Kira peered through the crack in the doorway, his eyes moving in every which direction to find what he was looking for. He was assaulted by several different names and lifespans all at once, which wasn't highly unusual because of his Shinigami eyes. But there _was_ one thing that was unusual about the people he was currently observing; out of the nine in the room, there was one whose lifespan he couldn't see.

It was _him_.

He smiled. _GOD!_ his mind practically screamed.

His name was Light Yagami. So _he_ was really Kira. He honestly hadn't expected the world's new god to be someone so young or intelligent, but all the better.

Together, they would create the new world; a world free of sin and vice where only good people lived. Getting down on his knees, he pulled out the greatest gift anyone had ever given him, the one thing that had truly given him pure joy in his life; the Death Note. Smiling as he opened to a specific page, he pulled out his pen and began writing furiously.

"Delete, delete, delete..." he quietly muttered over and over again.

* * *

Light glanced over at the door. Mikami should have had enough time to write the names down by now. "You, there. Outside," he called to the other man.

Mikami looked up at the door, devoting his full attention to his god.

"Have you finished writing down the names in the notebook?" Light inquired.

Mikami smiled. He liked hearing the voice of his god. It made him feel... empowered. "Yes, I've written them," he answered almost immediately.

Something clicked in Near's brain. This just didn't sound right to him. "Don't you think it's rather odd?" he voiced his opinion audibly, his head down and turned away from the door.

Light's gaze shifted from the door to Near, his interest obviously piqued. "Is _what_ rather odd?" Light asked, slightly annoyed. He wasn't particularly afraid of Near figuring out that he and Mikami knew each other, but he was getting impatient and Near's monotone voice was beginning to piss him off.

"Why would he answer you so quickly, calmly, and honestly when you asked him if he'd written down our names yet?" Near wondered aloud.

Light quickly came up with a believable explanation, something he was quite good at. "Who knows? Maybe he's just honest or confident that he'll succeed. Or perhaps he's seen through your... brilliant plan."

He paused toward the end of that last sentence on purpose to take a jab at Near. He knew it probably wouldn't go unnoticed, either, but he wanted it to be clearly known that he didn't particularly enjoy joining forces with this overconfident teenager.

However, Near dismissed the comment and looked up at the door instead. "Teru Mikami," Near called out the man's name in his usual monotone fashion, fingers still playing with his hair. "If it's not too much trouble for you, won't you please come in and join us?"

Mikami stayed where he was, not moving until he received a command directly from God.

"I already know that you're the one who's been judging and executing people for Kira," Near continued. "If you've already written down our names, then there shouldn't be anything to be afraid of. You can come right on in."

Light knew his most devoted follower wouldn't act without an order from him in a situation like this, so he decided to jump in. "Teru Mikami, is it?" he asked, feigning ignorance about the other man's identity. "He's correct, there's no reason to hide from us. You can come in."

There was a momentary pause before the man's voice was heard. "All right," Mikami responded from behind the door, finished with his task. "I'll oblige you."

He closed up the notebook, placing it and the pen back in the inner pocket of his coat as he stood up. Adjusting his tie and shirt collar, he pushed the door the rest of the way open and entered the warehouse.

Everyone held their breath as the supposed second Kira strolled in through the warehouse door. He was so calm, it was almost frightening. His face was almost unreadable, nearly devoid of emotion of any kind. His dark eyes flashed deadly behind his glasses as they swept the room, stopping a few feet in from the entrance.

Light tried not to give him an appraising smile, simply looking at him neutrally instead. _You've done well, Mikami,_ he thought.

He then asked aloud, "How many seconds has it been since you've written down the first name?" He knew almost exactly when Mikami had done it, but saying so would obviously attract a _lot_ of unneeded attention from everyone else in the room.

Mikami calmly pulled up his left sleeve to look at his wrist watch. "Thirty seconds. Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three..." he began counting up.

Light couldn't hold it in anymore. He'd waited for this moment for so long now, he just couldn't stand waiting any longer. He looked directly into Near's eyes and smiled evilly at him as Mikami continued counting the seconds. He said the words he'd wanted to say since the first time Near had contacted him.

"Well, Near, looks like I win."

Near's hand stopped twirling through his hair and his eyes went wide at Light's words. With what he'd just said, he may as well have confessed to every murder he had ever committed.

_Light Yagami is Kira,_ he thought, his eyes narrowing at the man - no, the _monster_ \- before him. _I knew it all along. This just proves my theory to be true. Now all I have to do is have him arrested._

He couldn't help but smirk a bit when he realized what was about to happen. No one was going to die here. He'd made damn sure of that before he and his team had even come here today. He knew something Light didn't, and that "something" would prove to be Light's ultimate downfall.

Mikami's Death Note was a _fake_.

He and the other SPK members had painstakingly made a perfect copy of the notebook and swapped it for the real one last night; all unknown to Light, Mikami, and anyone else who may have possibly been collaborating with them. Near had the real one on him now hidden under his shirt. Because of the fact that he'd been touching it ever since the Japanese task force members arrived, he had even been able to see the Shinigami hovering right behind Light the second he walked through that door.

Light was wrong; _Near_ was the winner, not some psychotic, twenty-three-year-old man with a god complex.

" _Forty_!" Mikami yelled.

At the sound of the prosecutor's authoritative voice, Near was successfully pulled out of his trance. It was probably the most emotion the older man had shown since he'd walked through that door. It didn't matter, though; Near knew what the outcome would be, so why waste any more time thinking about it? It was time to bring Light Yagami and Teru Mikami to justice and end Kira's reign once and for all.

Looking right into Light's eyes, he was about to claim his victory when he heard someone behind him struggling to breathe. He turned his head to see Commander Rester grab his chest as if in pain and continue gasping for breath.

But he _couldn't_ be in pain; the only way that could happen was if Mikami had written his name down in his Death Note, which was completely fake. He was about to scold Rester for putting on a performance when the man fell to the floor, rolling around and ripping his shirt open as if his chest were about to burst.

Suddenly, a thought popped into Near's head: What if this _wasn't_ an act? What if, somehow, Rester's real name had actually been written into the Death Note and he was dying now because of it? But, no, that was impossible... or so Near kept telling himself.

"Commander Rester?" he asked, uncertain of what was going on.

Before he could even ask Gevanni, Lidner, or Mogi to check on him, all three fell to the floor simultaneously, their guns they had drawn moments before clattering to the ground with them as they writhed around in obvious distress. Near's head whipped to the front when he heard sharp cries and groans of pain and saw Aizawa and Ide collapse, holding their chests as they tried to scream out for help.

Near looked all around him, waves of emotions hitting him from every which way with incredible force. Fear, anxiety, confusion, anger, stress... it was just too much. All he could do was sit and watch as six people slowly died all around him. He tried to block out their cries for help and attempted screams, but no matter what he did, it was all he could hear.

However, something much worse found its way into his eardrums: laughter. He looked up to see Light looking at the ground, shaking his head as he started to softly chuckle. It started to build, first as small snickers, then excited giggling, and then full-out manic laughter.

His eyes went wide as Light threw his head back and cackled like a deranged serial killer, which wasn't far from what Near thought of him. He glanced to his right and saw Mikami just standing there, observing all that was happening around him with an eerie calmness. He couldn't decide what he was scared of more: Light's crazy laughter or Mikami's silent observations.

Besides Near, the only person whose name hadn't been written down was Matsuda. The young detective was currently on his knees staring blankly ahead. Apparently, the situation had taken such a heavy toll on him that he couldn't even move.

One by one, the six people stopped struggling as each of them succumbed to the fatal heart attacks they had been given from the Death Note nearly one minute ago. Rester, Lidner, Gevanni, Mogi, Ide, Aizawa; all in that order. People who had been alive minutes ago and were supposed to live long, healthy lives were now expiring at the hands of Kira.

Aizawa was the very last of them to die. He glanced to the side and saw the look of terror that Ide had had just before he had expired.

With the last of his strength, he turned his head towards Light, who was now laughing like a maniac. Aizawa had never wanted to believe that Light was Kira, but as time went on, the possibility grew larger and larger until he was almost completely convinced it was him. Now he had his proof.

Unfortunately for him and the other investigators in the room, they had all found out in the worst way possible and wouldn't live to see the results, but the case had been closed, either way. Light turned around at that moment, no longer laughing, but still smiling broadly. Aizawa wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, but that face just scared the living hell out of him.

Still, he swallowed hard, narrowed his eyes, looked right into Light's pupils, and defiantly spat, "Go to hell, you fucking bastard."

Light laughed even harder at that, admiring Aizawa's steely personality even when he was about to die. Light's insane laughter was the last thing Aizawa heard before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he finally lay still. Light sobered, still chuckling a bit as he stooped down beside Aizawa's body and turned him over.

Near watched from afar as Light opened the detective's coat and struggled a bit with something. After a few moments, Light's laughter returned and he stood up, his back still to Near.

He turned around so he was now facing the boy and raised his arms out to either side of him until they were perpendicular to his torso. In his right hand was a pen, while in his left, the Death Note. The crucified position he was now in looked like Jesus Christ or some kind of messiah for humankind.

He grinned at Near, who refused to look at the older man any longer. He wouldn't allow Light to see the expression of defeat behind his eyes. Still grinning broadly, Light slowly sauntered over to the white haired teen, not in any particular hurry. After all, his biggest obstacle lay right before him, completely defenseless.

He was unarmed, had no backup, was cut off from communication of any kind, trapped in this warehouse, and, most importantly, broken. He was like a piece of glass that had been dropped from the window of a ten-story building and completely shattered to thousands of tiny pieces upon point of impact. He was mentally, emotionally, and spiritually destroyed. All that was left was his physical body, but Light would take care of that soon enough.

Said man was only a few steps away from Near when he suddenly stopped and turned around. He gazed down at Matsuda, the only man in the entire Kira case who had always fully supported Light without hesitation or doubt. He was still staring blankly ahead as Light's shadow cast over him.

He slowly looked up to meet Light's eyes. He couldn't feel anything. He was frozen.

"Light... why?" he asked just barely above a whisper.

Light chuckled.

"Oh, Matsuda, you have no idea what it was like. You have no idea just how truly _bored_ I was! Do you know what it's like to do the exact same thing every goddamn day and go to sleep at night only to wake up to it all over again?! You know, Albert Einstein once said, 'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.' Apparently, he was right. I wasn't getting anywhere. I had no purpose in life.

"But then, one day, it happened. I was blessed with the ultimate tool to shape and create the new world as I saw fit: the Death Note!" he held it in front of him for Matsuda to see to exaggerate his point. "With this, I could cleanse the world of everyone I saw unfit to live in it. Only the pure at heart would be left. Anyone who publicly disagreed with my opinions or attempted to stop me in any way would be killed. Don't you see? With this, I can now rule as the god of this new world!"

"But... all those people," Matsuda shook his head. "Every innocent person who ever went against you. They were just doing their jobs. They _had_ to..."

"They were all in the way, Matsuda," Light smirked. "I couldn't have people going against the laws of Kira, now could I? It's like the ruler of a country; if someone or a group of people don't like you and try to stop you, you simply take them out of the picture. Besides, they didn't _have_ to. They could have quit any time they wanted to. As long as they stayed quiet and didn't interfere with my plans, I would have left them alone. Maybe they would have even liked the new world, had they lived to see it."

"What about your _father_?" Matsuda emphasized the last part of his sentence, raising his shaky voice a little. He was now speaking through tears. "What the hell did he die for?!"

Light raised his eyebrows, obviously a little thrown off by the mention of his father.

"My father? He's dead now. That's all. He died fighting for what he believed in, a quality that, deep down, I have to say I admired about him. But it's all the same, Matsuda; everyone dies in the end. That's just how it is. Did I love my father? Yes. However, I can't let his death keep me from fulfilling my role as Kira."

Matsuda's eyes and mouth were now wide open. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had always admired Light, and now... to hear this from him... he just couldn't believe it.

His head dropped and his body shook as he sobbed. He would have rather died not knowing that Light was the mass murderer whom he and the rest of the task force had been trying to catch for years now. It just... it would have been better that way.

Light put a hand on Matsuda's shoulder, speaking calmly and quietly as he looked down upon the usually cheerful detective.

"Matsuda, there's a reason why I kept you alive. Out of everyone in the investigation, you're the only one who has never once gone against anything I've ever said or done. In fact, you quickly and eagerly took my side no matter what the situation. For this, I'm giving you a choice: You can choose to die here like everyone else, or you can join me and help me rule the new world as a follower of Kira. Hell, I might even let you write some names down yourself! So which is it, Matsuda? Life or death?"

He removed his hand from the detective's shoulder and took a step back to extend it to him as an offer.

Matsuda regained control of himself, slowly raising his head up to meet Light's eyes. His arm was outstretched toward him, asking him to join him as part of the new world.

"No," Matsuda shook his head. "I can't live in a world where billions of people are ruled by fear and violence. It's not what L would have wanted, it's not what your father would have wanted, and it's not what I want, either. I choose death."

Light sighed, withdrawing his hand and reaching into his pocket to retrieve the pen he had placed there when he began talking to the NPA detective less than a minute ago.

"Well, Matsuda, I have to say, I'm a little disappointed," he chastised the man as he clicked the pen and flipped open to a fresh page in the notebook. "I really was hoping that you would accept my offer and join me, but it _is_ your choice, after all. I can't say I'm going to enjoy killing you, but if it helps shape the new world into a better place, then I'll do it."

Matsuda looked away from Light, not wanting to meet the gaze of the cold-blooded murderer before him. Or, rather, he _couldn't_. If he was going to die here, then so be it. He wasn't about to fight it.

Light pressed the pen to the paper, writing down Matsuda's full name. He thought about just giving him a heart attack, but he wrote in a method of death after the name, as well. He _had_ kind of liked Matsuda, so the least he could do was give him something quick and painless.

He closed the notebook, holding it at his side while his other hand clicked the pen and put it back in his pocket. He checked his watch nearly forty seconds later, glancing down at Matsuda as he waited for his death to occur.

Matsuda was still looking away from Light when suddenly, he felt something deep within him. He gasped at the sensation of utter hopelessness and depression flooding every sense of his being.

Then, he felt something against his chest, something hard and kind of bulky. He drew back the left side of his suit to see his revolver. Strange. He'd almost forgotten that it was still there.

He removed it from the holster and held it out in front of him with both hands, feeling the weight and texture of the loaded weapon. He put one hand on the grip and let the other fall to his side as he slowly raised the gun up to his temple, feeling as if someone else were controlling him the whole time. Cocking the hammer back, Matsuda looked up at Light one last time before pulling the trigger, a blank expression on his face.

The loud bang reverberated off the walls of the whole warehouse, making Light, Mikami, and Near all go momentarily deaf for a few seconds. Near flinched at the sound, his fingers now practically braiding his hair with how hard they were raking through it.

The .38 caliber bullet entered tightly through one side of Matsuda's head and left a gaping hole as it came out of the other, bringing blood, skull fragments, brain matter, skin, and various other tissues with it; all within thousandths of a second. His limp body fell to the side and onto the floor, blood pooling around his head. His eyes were still open, looking straight ahead hauntingly.

Light looked down emotionlessly at Matsuda's body for a few more moments before turning on his heel and gazing directly into Near's eyes, a smile creeping across his face. Near quickly looked away, trying to avoid as much human contact as possible with the being before him he couldn't even _consider_ human.

Light slowly made his way over to Near, who he was pleased to see was still avoiding his gaze. His smile grew even more at the thought of him being able to strike fear into the heart of this boy. Stopping a couple feet away from the distraught teenager, Light towered over him with a victorious smile.

"Well, Near, I've said it before and I'll say it again; I win."

Near looked up at Light, feeling the fear slowly evaporate and give way to anger. He'd never had this many intense feelings all at once directly aimed at one person.

"Do you expect me to beg for my life?" he narrowed his eyes at the older man.

Light chuckled.

"Oh, Near, that's rich," he shook his head. "No, I know you wouldn't do that even if I had a gun pointed at your head. You're too prideful for that. Then again, I wouldn't, either. We have a bit in common, Near, though I'm afraid it isn't as much as me and L. Or, rather, _wasn't_."

Light's smile seemed to brighten when he corrected himself, knowing full well that it would probably hit a nerve within Near. He was right.

At the mention of the deceased detective and Light's absurd comparison of the three of them, Near's fingers stopped twirling through his hair and slowly gripped it as if he were about to rip it right out of his head. His eyes practically narrowed into slits as he spoke, struggling to remain calm and avoid raising his voice.

"Light Yagami... L... Kira... whatever you prefer to be called, we are _nothing_ alike," he spit the words out as if they were venomous. "I may not have known L very well, or even admired him as much as most other people at Wammy's House, but I know for a _fact_ that he was _never anything like you_. Just the thought of you saying that makes me sick to my stomach."

"Oh, really?" Light remarked in an almost innocent tone. "I thought you would appreciate me complimenting the world's greatest detective like that. Apparently not, though."

Near snorted. For the incredible intelligence Light Yagami had, he was sure acting like a complete fucking idiot right now.

"He would be turning over in his grave right now if he heard you make an asinine comment like that. You're everything he and I have fought our whole lives to destroy. You think of yourself as some kind of god, but in reality, you're nothing more than a crazy mass murderer. Not to mention a rather childish one, at that."

Light just shrugged his shoulders, ignoring the insult. "Well, Near, if I were in your position right now, I would want to know exactly _how_ my enemy had managed to beat me. What about you? Aren't you at least _slightly_ curious as to how I outsmarted you?"

Near sighed heavily, avoiding Light's eyes once more. "If you must..." he muttered.

It wasn't as if he had much of a choice in the first place, anyway. Besides, he _was_ kind of curious to find out how Light had defeated him.

Light grinned, dropping down on one knee to level himself with Near. He began his victory speech, practically giddy with excitement.

"As you know, I had no way of getting into direct contact with Mikami. Even if I did, it would be way too dangerous for either one of us, what with us being watched and under heavy suspicion by the police. That's where Takada came in. The first time we met, the room we were in was fully bugged and covered by cameras from nearly every angle. Needless to say, it would have been almost impossible for us to say anything related to Kira without coming under some kind of suspicion.

"After my excuse that Kira had found out about our meeting and was prepared to investigate it, I was able to get rid of every bug and camera in the room from that point onward. The only kind of surveillance device in the room with us after that was the wire I was wearing, but all Takada and I had to do was just pass notes to each other using the notepads in the hotel room. As long as we kept up a normal conversation and put what we really wanted to tell each other down on paper, the task force would be none the wiser.

"After the first time Mikami and I spoke, I set it up so that he and Takada would be able to openly contact each other whenever they needed to. Neither of us could still contact each other, but doing so through Takada was the next best thing. At one meeting, Mikami told Takada that he thought he was being followed. She relayed this to me, and I said to just act natural and keep up his daily routines as usual. I also said that if it continued for the next two weeks, then he should contact me the next time Takada and I had a meeting, which I asked her to inform him about.

"As I imagined, he _did_ call me at one of those meetings. He told me that he was beginning to feel uneasy about the secrecy of the Death Note and that someone may try to either steal it or manipulate it in some way. I ordered him to rip out a few blank pages he hadn't used yet and to keep at least one hidden on him at all times, just in case. The rest would remain back at his house while he was out.

"Like I assumed you eventually would, you took an opportunity to swap the Death Note for a fake notebook in his locker while he was at the gym seven days ago. When he got home that night and checked it, he noticed several discrepancies and immediately informed Takada about it, who, in turn, informed me. You see, Mikami was extremely careful with the notebook, _especially_ out in public. Every night he went home, he thoroughly checked it under a microscope to make sure no one had somehow tampered with it in any way. In other words, even if you made a perfect copy of the Death Note without either of us realizing it, I'm almost completely sure that Mikami would have noticed and let me know about it."

Mikami suddenly stepped forward, directing his gaze at Light.

"God, with your permission, may I speak?" he asked.

Light turned his head toward Mikami, somewhat surprised that he'd been interrupted but not really concerned too much about it.

"Of course, Mikami," he nodded. "You don't need my permission. We have nothing to worry about now."

"Thank you, God," Mikami bowed to his deity before glancing at Near. "When I came here today, I brought the notebook with me. Whether it was genuine or not, I didn't know at the time, but I took it here, nonetheless. After I looked inside the warehouse and pulled out the notebook and pen, I wrote down the full names of Anthony Carter, Halle Bullook, Stephen Loud, Kanzō Mogi, Hideki Ide, and Shūichi Aizawa. But I didn't write them in the notebook; I wrote them on a piece of paper I'd ripped out from the original Death Note weeks before that was _inside_ the notebook.

"It was a last-minute decision, but because of what happened on the twenty-first, I couldn't risk using a notebook that may or may not have been a fake. When I walked in and told you that it had been thirty seconds since I wrote the first name down, I was being honest, but what I didn't say was _where_ I'd written it. You probably figured I would have only written in the Death Note that you created a replica of, but you didn't think of the possibility that I would have brought extra pages with me. If you had, everyone would still be alive, Light and I would be in your custody, and you would have won. It was a simple mistake, really, but one that has cost the lives of several people today, including your own."

Light was still looking at Mikami when he finished his little speech, his mouth slightly agape and his eyes wide. Mikami's Death Note... could have been a fake?! How the _hell_ hadn't he considered that possibility?

If Mikami had written in the Death Note he was carrying instead of the piece of paper he had on him... well, simply put, he would have been finished. _Both_ of them, actually. But Mikami was smart enough to think ahead, even if it _was_ only a split-second decision. That's what Light had chosen him for.

He knew that Teru Mikami was the perfect stand-in for Kira since they day he first saw him appear on _Kira's Kingdom_. His intelligence, his persistence, his sense of justice... he was perfectly fit to be Kira's right hand man, his disciple in the new world.

Light snapped out of his thoughts to turn back to Near. "Well, Near, what do you think of that?" he smirked.

He just couldn't help himself. The opportunity for bragging rights was simply too gargantuan to pass up!

Near sighed with somewhat of a depressed tone.

"To be honest, I actually _did_ consider the possibility of Mikami using anything other than the Death Note he was carrying on him to kill everyone here. However, I figured he was too methodical and adherent to his strict schedule to take advantage of any other method of killing, but obviously, I was wrong. Even when we created a perfect copy and swapped it for the real notebook in his bank safety deposit box yesterday, he _still_ managed to beat us, even if it was only by changing one little thing..."

Light's smirk grew wider as he accepted Near's defeat in words. It was the best thing he'd ever heard in his life. At this point, he didn't even care that the notebook Mikami currently had on him was actually a proxy. He stood up, the difference in their sizes clearly obvious.

"Well, Near, it's been fun, but you can't keep playing the game forever."

He reached into his pocket to withdraw his pen. Bringing it out, he clicked it and opened to a new page in the Death Note.

"Even after everything you and Light have just told me, Mikami, there's still just one thing I don't understand," Near suddenly spoke up.

Light looked up from the notebook and into Near's eyes. What was he getting at? He then glanced over at Mikami, who also had a look of curiosity on his face. He waited for his disciple to speak.

"What would that be?" the prosecutor obliged the teen.

"Why did you wait until now to write my name down in the Death Note? I can understand your reasoning behind Matsuda, considering that you knew Light had a bit of a soft spot for him and would have wanted to deal with him directly, but what about me? Wouldn't it have been easier to get me, the rest of the SPK, and the Japanese task force out of the way in a single move?"

Mikami looked back at Light, silently asking him for permission. He knew he didn't have to, but he still wanted to be polite to his lord. Light gave him an affirmative nod and Mikami returned his gaze back to Near as he spoke.

"Considering how much trouble you'd caused for both me and my god, I couldn't just kill you off at the same time as everyone else. It wouldn't be fair. Instead, I wanted you to feel the defeat you so desperately wanted to avoid this entire time. I wanted you to be misled into thinking you had won, only to realize that the deaths suddenly occurring around you were no one's fault but your own. Had you been killed along with everyone else, you never would have known the kind of pain and suffering that goes along with being defeated by someone who is truly better than you."

Near looked back at Light. "I figured that was the motive behind your actions."

Light paid him no mind, though; he was practically like a little kid on Christmas. Nothing could deter him from what he was about to do.

"So, Near, seeing as how your life is literally now in my hands, I suppose it would only be right to at least allow you to choose how you wish to die," Light smiled maliciously down at the boy.

Near stared defiantly back at Light, his eyes narrowing. "I will _not_ submit to you by choosing how I wish my own life to end. I think you are quite capable of deciding that on your own."

Light shrugged, his evil smile still remaining. "Hey, I was just trying to be polite. Now, let's see here... how do I want you to die? I could make it quick and painless, but... no, I think you're worth a little more than that. Ha, I've got it!" he suddenly exclaimed before glancing over at Mikami, still standing patiently to the side. "Mikami, will you please read me his name?"

Mikami nodded. "It will be my pleasure, God," he addressed Light before looking at Near and reading his name out loud. "His full name is Nate River." He then spelled it out for him so there was no chance of Light getting it wrong.

Light smiled as he returned his gaze to Near. "Nate River, huh? That's kind of different." Then, he pressed the pen to the paper and slowly wrote the name down.

Near snorted to himself and rolled his eyes. _He's one to talk, considering his own unorthodox name,_ he thought.

He watched as Light carefully wrote his name down like he was afraid of misspelling it or something. Mikami had just spelled it out loud, but he supposed Light was either being extremely careful as usual or was just savoring the moment of finally his name into his Death Note.

If there was anyone he hated more than Light and Mikami right now, though, it was _himself_. If only he hadn't overlooked the possibility of Mikami using pieces of the original Death Note, then this would have gone flawlessly. He would have apprehended two mass murderers, restored order and peace to the world, and maybe even kept all of his people alive through it all.

But as he looked at the seven bodies around him, he knew it was too late. His mistake had already been made. He had told them that they weren't going to die today and he had let them down. There was no going back now.

Light finished writing down Near's true name and how he wanted him to die, pushing his sleeve up so he could check the time. Starting from forty seconds, he began the countdown in his head. This was really going to happen. His second-worst enemy was about to die right in front of him, and even if he wanted to stop it, he couldn't.

But that would be absurd. Why stop something he had wanted to happen so badly for almost a year now? It would be pointless. He was quickly pulled back to reality by the quiet ticking of his wrist watch and glanced down at it. He smiled.

_Five seconds._ He looked down over it at Near.

_Four seconds._ Mikami looked from Light to Near, wondering what his god could possibly have planned for this meddlesome teenager.

_Three seconds._ Near continued twirling his fingers in his snow white hair, remaining stoic and calm even at death's door.

_Two seconds._ Light smiled the widest he possibly could, displaying all of his perfect white teeth. He couldn't wait any longer. The suspense was practically killing him.

_One second._ "Goodbye, Nate River," he slowly pronounced Near's real name.

Near felt a small amount of pain somewhere in his head. He couldn't help but let out the tiniest groan as he grabbed the back of his head with one of his hands. What did Light write down?

The pain got worse when it steadily grew and became more intense, causing him to put his other hand behind his head and bow it forward in obvious distress. White hot pain rolled throughout his head in waves as his vision blurred and he groaned even louder.

Light and Mikami watched contentedly from where they were as Near fell to the side, holding his head in both hands and closing his eyes to try blocking out the pain. Near rolled to one side and then the other as he suddenly felt like his head was being torn apart from the inside out.

He couldn't take it anymore. He screamed.

Light wished he could smile even wider, but his face was beginning to hurt from how much of it he'd already done today.

Near howled wildly in pain as his body writhed and rolled on the floor, dirtying his white pajamas that had been - for the most part - clean only moments before. He'd had headaches and even migraines before, but _nothing_ like this. To the best of his knowledge, cluster headaches were extremely painful but not deadly, so there was only one other thing he could think of.

_That sick bastard!_ Near thought as he let out another ear-piercing scream.

Light shook his head with a chuckle. He had been wrong before. Near verbally admitting his defeat to him wasn't the best thing he'd ever heard; it was his _screaming_. He never would have expected to hear such powerful sounds from someone as calm and emotionless as Near.

Near tried to do something, _anything_ to alleviate the head-splitting pain he currently felt. He tried hitting his head off the ground, which only bruised his forehead and made the pain worse. He balled his hands into fists and punched the floor, ignoring the bruising his knuckles were receiving. He even kicked out into the air.

He nearly shrieked when he felt the most powerful wave of pain hit him and promptly vomited on the floor. He screamed louder and louder, his body wiggling and writhing around on the floor like a rag doll.

He wanted this to be over. If he had a knife or a gun on him, he would have ended it before it got to this point. But seeing as how he didn't believe in carrying weapons on his person, he didn't have that option.

He curled into a ball, holding his head in his hands as he felt like it was about to burst into a million pieces. His body shook as tears of pain began to flow from his eyes. He had never shown these kinds of emotions to anyone. He was falling apart.

For some reason, he felt himself pick his head up to look Light directly in the eyes and say the words he never would have under his own power: "Kira, I have lost. You win."

Suddenly, he felt something burst within his head. His head snapped back and his limbs flailed wildly for only another moment before he ceased moving. Foam rose in his mouth as he took his last breath and all communication between his brain and the rest of his body was permanently cut off. His body finally lay still, though the sight was anything but peaceful.

Light took one last look at Near before uncontrollably laughing. How _couldn't_ he? The person, the _teenager_ who had caused so much grief for him and his plans over the last year was finally dead. He had to respond to it somehow!

When he had sobered enough to speak clearly, he turned to Mikami. "So, Mikami, what do you think?" he asked for his disciple's opinion.

"It was quite a display, my lord," Mikami smiled with a bow. "If you don't mind me asking, though, what did you write down?"

"I gave him a fatal brain aneurysm," Light grinned. "Not an instant one, of course, because that wouldn't have been any fun. I also made him say that last part towards the end about him losing and me winning."

"Brilliant, God," Mikami praised him.

Light chuckled, shaking his head. "As much as I appreciate the title, there's no need to be so formal, Mikami. You can just call me Light, you know."

"I know, but you'll always be a god to me," Mikami said seriously.

"Well, I suppose some things just can't be changed," Light shrugged. He surveyed the scene of the warehouse, looking at all eight people he and Mikami had killed today. He glanced back at him. "I think we've done quite enough for today, Mikami. Let's get out of here."

"Whatever you say, my lord," Mikami nodded in agreement.

Light had only taken a few steps forward before stopping in place and glancing down at his Death Note. He stared at the cover for a few seconds before opening it up and finding an empty page.

Mikami took notice of this and stopped beside Light. "Another judgment, God?" he asked.

Light nodded as he pulled out his pen. "Yes. This one is much less a problem than these fools were, but still a problem, nonetheless."

"Would you like me to write the name instead, God?" Mikami offered. "You seem tired and I would be more than happy to do it for you."

"Thank you, Mikami, but no," Light shook his head as he began to write. "I would prefer to do this one personally."

Mikami nodded as he watched Light write in the notebook. He admired how skillfully his hand spelled out the names and methods of death that would kill whoever he wished. It proved that he had done this many times before, giving Mikami even more faith in his lord.

When Light was finished with his latest judgment, he turned to Mikami and opened his mouth as if about to speak, but thought about it and turned directly behind him instead. "Well, Ryuk, you were awfully quiet during that whole affair," he addressed Ryuk for the first time since arriving at the warehouse. "It's not like you."

In all honesty, he'd almost forgotten that the Shinigami had been behind him the whole time.

"Hey, it was a tense situation!" Ryuk explained. "Besides, if I was laughing the whole time, I might have missed all the good stuff."

Light turned to Near's body, and then back to Ryuk. "Ryuk, does he have the Death Note on him?" he pointed back at Near with his thumb.

"Yeah," Ryuk nodded. "He was able to see me the whole time."

Light walked to Near's body and searched him for the notebook. It only took him a few seconds to take it out of his shirt and walk back to Mikami and Ryuk with it.

"Here, Mikami, drop that one and take this one instead," Light held out the Death Note for him.

Mikami dropped his notebook and gratefully accepted the one from Light's hand. Sure that they hadn't left anything else behind, all three turned to leave the warehouse through the only way in or out. Closing the door behind them as they left, they began to make their way back to the city.

As they walked through the dockyards, Mikami looked over at Light as they walked in step. "What shall we do now, my lord?" he asked of Light.

"Now, we publicly proclaim that Kira's new world has officially been created," Light answered. "It's the new age of man. The perfect world."

He smiled to himself.

Ryuk chuckled as he casually floated behind them. "Sounds fun."

* * *

There was a cluster of people near the entrance of the Teito Hotel.

Apparently, someone had fallen to their death and was now lying face down in the pavement. Blood was pooled around their body and some bones were sticking out at odd angles from the impact of the fall. The police had already arrived on the scene and closed the area off, encouraging people to continue on with what they were doing and allow the professionals to do their jobs.

However, this only made more people stick around to try and get a better look at the crime scene. Some became nauseous at the sight of the flattened corpse and had to leave, but most stayed.

They were too busy with just gazing at the body to notice any specifics or minute details that they could have noticed if they looked hard enough. There were a lot of things they missed that would have identified the victim almost immediately, depending on how familiar the crowd was with them.

For example, the Lolita styled outfit, hairstyle, and black nail polish would have heavily indicated to them that the victim was female. Her cross shaped earrings and punk accessories would have told them she was into gothic style fashion and maybe even slightly attracted to some darker things in the world, such as violence or even death. And finally, if they were to rush through the police barricades, get past the officers on duty, and turn the body over to get a closer look, they almost certainly would have been able to identify the victim within seconds.

Though much of her face and most of her body had been irreparably damaged by the fall, there was a high probability that they would have been able to recognize the body. Had they looked close enough, they would have been able to identify the victim as the world-renowned Misa Amane.

**Author's Note:**

> (Sits back and breathes out a heavy sigh of relief). God, that was difficult to write! I still had fun with it, regardless, but it was a real pain in the ass to get everything the way I wanted it to be. I originally planned for Mikami to beat Near by writing in both his Death Note and the piece of paper, but after refreshing up on my Death Note rules, I realized it would have been pointless; apparently, if you write a name/cause of death in two Death Notes at the same time, one will take effect while the other doesn't. Oh, well. It was less confusing the way I wrote it, anyway (at least in my opinion).
> 
> As you may or may not have noticed, I messed with the dialogue big time for this fic; some I kept exactly as it was, some I altered a bit, and most I just got rid of and replaced with original content. I have my reasoning behind this, believe it or not, although I don't think I need to explain exactly why I did it. Basically, I just thought it would sound better the way I wrote it in than changing it to anything else. Also, I kept Light and Mikami as their original selves rather than the maniacs they looked like in the last two episodes of the anime/last several chapters of the manga. I just liked them better the way they were before they arrived at the meeting.
> 
> Most importantly, though, PLEASE comment! I'd really like to see what people think of this story, good or bad. Every little bit helps me out as a writer.


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